Club Brugge Head Coach Carl Hoefkens has provided an explanation as to why Leeds United target Charles De Ketelaere was left out of the Belgian club’s first game of the season this weekend.
The 21-year-old was not in the Brugge squad for their 3-2 victory against Genk to open the new season, with his future still very much in the air as Leeds and AC Milan battle it out for the young Belgian's signature.
Hoefkens spoke about the future of De Ketelaere after the game, revealing that the player was excluded from the squad at his own request, as per Calciomercato.com. “I’ll do anything for him… but it’s all a little too much for Charles,” he said.
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Milan still seem to be the front runners in the race to sign De Ketelaere, but according to the most recent reports, they are still around £5million off the Brugge’s asking price for the forward.
There is no doubt that the 21-year-old’s preferred destination is with the Serie A champions, but Leeds’ £35million offer is still the best to be received, which leaves him in a bind as he waits for Milan to come in with a bid that Brugge will accept.
The only thing the Whites can do is wait to see if De Ketelaere’s patience with the Italian side will run out, as his current employers are more than willing to accept the offer that the Yorkshire club have come in with.
It is clear that the media circus surrounding the deal is starting to wear on the youngster based on Hoefkens comments, so all parties involved will be hoping for a resolution to this issue sooner rather than later. It also remains to be seen how long Leeds will be willing to wait before they pull the plug and look elsewhere for their next striker.
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